When buying an e-reader from Amazon, you don’t have to make many decisions beyond which color to go with. But Amazon gives you one other option: Do you want to pay extra for a Kindle without lockscreen ads?
This question is particularly relevant now that Amazon has released all-new Kindles for 2026, some of which are already available for preorder.
If you look closely at the Kindle product page at Amazon, you’ll notice there are two options:
Credit: Screenshot courtesy of Amazon
-
Ad-Supported
-
Without Lockscreen Ads
Going ad-free on your Kindle is an upgrade that will cost you $20 more, unless you go for one of Amazon’s premium Signature Edition e-readers, which always come without ads. However, Signature Editions also come with a premium price.
But after Kindles saw huge price hikes in August (and as prices everywhere are on the rise), are Kindles without lockscreen ads worth it?
We are a house divided. Mashable’s Tech Editor, Tim Werth, says yes, you should 100 percent pay a small fee to go ad-free. But as Mashable’s resident Kindle expert, I say absolutely not. Both Werth and I are dedicated Kindle readers who love books, and we’re each going to plead our case.
The case for buying an ad-supported Kindle
To be clear, I’m not a fan of ads! I always pay for the premium streaming services so I can avoid them, but I just don’t think ads on a Kindle are that big of a deal.
Mashable Light Speed
The lockscreen ads market other books in the Kindle library. Generally, I find them pretty unobtrusive and mostly ignore them. To be honest, I don’t find them much different from the other generic screensavers that come on the Kindle. The main difference is that the ads are just trying to push a new read on you.
So, I say, save some money and buy the regular, ad-supported Kindle. You can always put the extra money toward the new Kindle Click page turner, which costs $34.99.
The case for buying Kindles without lockscreen ads
-
TL;DR: Ads are super annoying, the Kindle lockscreen artwork is much more visually appealing, and when buying Kindles as gifts, it’s borderline rude to get the cheaper, ad-supported version.
Hello — this is Timothy Beck Werth, Mashable’s tech editor — stepping in. As much as I respect Sam’s opinion on e-readers and Kindles, I have to disagree with her here. I have enough ads in my life, thank you.
I don’t need to explain to you why ads are annoying. Unless you’re using an ad blocker, you’re seeing multiple ads as you read these words right now. (And, please don’t use an ad blocker — we’re trying to keep the lights on here at Mashable.) Do I really want to see more ads while I’m reading? When I’m trying to disappear into a great book, the last thing I want to see is more advertisements.
Artwork on the lockscreen of the new Kindle Paperwhite.
Credit: René Ramos / Mashable
I’m also a fan of the E Ink artworks that appear on the Kindle lockscreen. These black-and-white, photograph-style images show close-ups of pencils, letter blocks, and other reading motifs. (Newer Kindles also show more artistic drawings, all created by real human artists.) And because they’re E Ink, they’re always on. But that means the advertisements are always on, too.
My partner has a Kindle that’s ad-supported, and we’ve never seen an ad for a book we actually wanted to read.
But there’s one other case in which I think you should always pay the $20 premium to remove lockscreen ads from a Kindle — when you’re buying a gift.
If you’re buying a Kindle as a gift, spend the extra cash for the best version of the device.
The good news here? There isn’t really a wrong choice.
Want to learn more about getting the best out of your tech? Sign up for Mashable’s Top Stories and Deals newsletters today.
